Finding a Purpose
by Th3Cr4zy1
Summary: Finding things on the grand line was hard but finding strange things on the grand line is pretty easy. So when Luffy finds a crew of one man with an amazing story he's more than a little persistent of getting him on his crew. Naruto and One Piece collide in a (hopefully) epic length story! This summary just oozes boring though huh? xD


**Chapter 1: Goodbyes and Greetings**

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 **(/Disclaimer/):**

 **I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden or any of the movies, I also don't own One Piece and any of things mentioned in it.**

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Life after the 4th Shinobi war was simple. It was peaceful and for all those who'd lost loved ones it was a welcome sight. This was no different for Uzumaki Naruto. He smiled softly as he stared at the hard work of millions of people coming to fruition.

Peace.

In his youth his sensei's ideals would've been scoffed at. People had been angry then, fuelled by fear, tragedy and loss. Even his generation, a generation born out of war hated their rival countries for past misdeeds; some had never known parents or lost brothers and sisters to war. Old grudges fuelling the circle of hatred known as the shinobi world.

The concept was still foreign to the people. From his perch on the Hokage Mountain he saw this. Former enemies who not even ten years ago would have killed each other if there were no consequences were politely talking but had hands close to weapons. Some habits were hard to break it seemed. Still…

He saw foreign shinobi from other villages entering the city for the first annual chuunin exam after the war. He saw the future chuunin prospects look around them in wonder, innocent eyes glimmering with curiosity. He saw them greet what would possibly be future rivals. He saw the senseis nod with respect towards each other, others actually embracing. The bonds born from war were truly impressive.

He observed all the people, civilians, shinobi and even some samurai.

"You know," he heard a voice behind him but did not acknowledge too busy with watching Konoha. "He'd be proud of you…Jiraya's dream didn't seem possible in our youth." Senju Tsunade, the powerful Hokage of Konoha was leaning against a nearby tree as she observed the boy-no, man before her.

He'd grown, the sage cloak was still there and the warm demeanor was still the same but the gravity defying hair had been cropped short, he'd hit his final growth spurt and she knew that if she looked into his eyes now there'd be the storming will that only Naruto could have.

"Oh? You saying that you're old now Baachan?" Naruto's response earned him a soft grunt from the woman as she pushed off the tree and sat ungracefully next to blonde with a relaxed sigh of contentment as she turned her face to the sun and close her eyes. "Running away from paperwork now?" He snickered at her irritated frown.

"Damn Shizune, that woman is a slave driver! Can't even get some sake, so cruel!" The fact that she was in fact the leader of a village and was acting like a petulant child was lost on the woman, but not to Naruto who simply grinned and shook his head. She turned to face Naruto her eyes turning steely as she regarded him again. "I'm actually here for a reason."

That grabbed the son of the Yondaime's attention. The chuunin exams were tomorrow, Tsunade should be swamped in paperwork not talking to him.

"And what would that be Hokage-sama? Finally want me to take that hat from ya?" He joked to lighten to mood between them; he might have been unintentionally reckless with those nobles from the royal family. Wasn't his fault the he destroyed a mountain in a demonstration…right?

"Yes."

It was said simply but there was no doubt in her tone. Naruto blinked, and then blinked again before snorting and rolling his eyes. Disbelief clearly written on his face as he shook his head. After a while as Tsunade simply stared at him with that serious expression he froze and asked, "Wait you're serious?"

Here Tsunade smiled softly and simply nodded. 'You're dream is coming true Naruto.'

"I can't." The simple reply shocked Tsunade. She frowned asking wordlessly for an explanation. In response Naruto turned his head to the city before him. "Sarutobi-jiji once told me that a Hokage protects those precious to him, and that to him all those in the leaf are precious." The fond recollection made him quirk his lips in remembrance.

"So? Isn't that why you want to become Hokage? It's your dream isn't it?!" She knew she was almost shouting but she couldn't help it. She loved this boy, loved him like the Baachan he called her as, and the thought of him giving up on his dreams caused a wave of fury to appear in her. She clenched her fist when she saw the patient expression on his. Kami, the boy she knew would have jumped at the chance. This Naruto, the one forged in battle and tempered with war was a lot calmer than that boy.

She wasn't sure she liked it.

"Hokage _was_ my dream," Naruto acknowledged. "I want to protect my precious people." He said simply, "It's the reason I'm as strong as I am." His hands were softly shaking but he didn't let that deter him as he slowly took a breath and calmed himself. He'd wanted at least for Tsunade to understand why but he'd wanted to explain later, much later. He almost wanted to sigh at his own stupidity for procrastinating.

So slowly he gestured with his hands towards a random person, "She is precious to me." His movements were precise and slow emphasizing the importance of his actions. Then he pointed towards a ninja from Konoha, "So is he." Seeing her confusion he then pointed towards a Suna-nin, a Taki-nin, An Iwa-nin…

"They are all precious to me." He said finally. "Peace is here, in what I see in front of me. The work of Jiraya, Nagato, and the Sage…is finally here-"

"And you?!" She interjected finally, "What of your hard work? What of your sacrifice? You deserve this Naruto! You're a hero Gaki!" She wanted to get it across his thick skull. Did he not realize that this was impossible without him?!

He tightened his fists. The traitorous tears he felt coming causing him to look away from the woman. Did she not understand? "This is my sacrifice…" He said finally. "Jiraya-sensei laid down the ground work, Nagato gave everyone the villain they needed, and the Sage gave me the understanding I needed to win the war. I have made no sacrifice…yet."

She simply stared at him in shock, "Naruto…" She could say nothing else as she tried to process his words.

He raised his head this time meeting hers, trying to will the understanding into her. "For everyone to be safe, for the dream of peace, I cannot become Hokage…" He stared at the people below them, which seemed so far away. "If I become Hokage, other villages will grow to fear me for my strength." It wasn't a boast but honest truth. "That fear will drive them into rash behavior…and before long the dream, Jiraya's dream, will become simply that , a dream."

Her eyes widened. Her hands clenched into fists as she finally understood. The circle of hatred had caught its final victim. People were already afraid of Naruto, afraid of what he could do. They whispered of him like he was a god. What would they do if he had an entire village at his beck and call with no one who could call off his devastation? She felt hot tears enter her eyes, she felt them glide across her skin and fall to the ground as she understood.

To the world Naruto was a rabid dog with a leash. A potential disaster that could be contained, but if he became Hokage? The rabid dog without his leash would need to be put down…

She grabbed his jacket in a vice. They were both crying while they stared at each other. He was smiling as he looked at her, his expression alone telling her all she needed to know. He was ready, resigned and willing to wear this burden. She couldn't look at him; she looked down rather, clenching her teeth. She'd never felt more like a failure as Hokage. "I'm sorry Naruto….if I-"

She felt strong, lean arms around her as she was interrupted. "It's ok Baachan; I was prepared to die for peace. This is nothing." He whispered it softly with a smile that was entirely wrong on his face. "If everyone I love is happy; if they all happily live their lives without the fear and hatred that is war, then I'll gladly sacrifice the title of Hokage."

He pointed towards his head where previously the symbol of the leaf village stood but now there was only the symbol of the 4th shinobi war. "I've grown up Baachan, I've seen the elemental Nations, I've made friends from all over, I've fought for their happiness and haven't been able to always rescue everyone; but I'm not simply a ninja of Konoha anymore…I'm a ninja of the elemental nations, and I will endure the burden of hatred for those that are precious to me."

The tears were gone, a small respite as she tried to compose herself and look at him more closely, trying to decipher what he meant by those words. It took a second but then she sighed as she felt her heart clench. "This is a goodbye…" Her voice was soft but her eyes were wide. She gripped him tighter and tried to grab his attention away from the village so he could focus on the here and now, on her.

He simply chuckled as he looked at her, "As expected of the Hokage to figure that out." His tone was light and almost joking but the confirmation tore at her. "Yes, if I stay it's only a matter of time until someone feels forced to do something stupid. Fear has always forced logic away from normal thoughts."

"YOU CAN'T JUST WALK AWAY FROM EVERYONE GAKI!" Her anger was surfacing. "Are you forgetting you are precious to people here too?!"

He stared resolutely at her. "I know…" He said and she felt like she almost wanted to throw him down the mountain, her rage and despair making it hard not to do just that. He'd survive anyway. Stupid overpowered blonde. "Your reaction towards me telling you says everything though doesn't?"

She understood immediately and did her best to put a lid on her emotions. It was extremely hard, but the logic in his words was undeniably true. Again she clenched her fists. "You have students, friends, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Hinata…what will you tell them?"

He snorted as if it was an idiotic question; but she could see the pain in his eyes, the way he could barely look at her as he stared towards the sky. "It's simple. Tonight is the night before the chuunin exams; there'll be a huge party. I'll have fun and enjoy the happiness of those most precious to me…and then when it's all said and done…I'll go."

Nothing more was said for a short while as Tsunade reeled in her emotions and schooled her expression. She loosened her grip on his clothes and turned back to stare at the village silently. Naruto looked back down at her with a soft smile, knowing exactly what she was doing. Silently he stared at this city, his home, and smiled warmly at what was achieved. His last sunset in Konoha…it felt right to be spending it with family.

After the sun finally set Naruto dusted himself off and stood. Tsunade said nothing as she continued staring at the city; her hands were shaking Naruto noted. Naruto didn't disturb her silence and merely walked away slowly. After a couple of seconds of listening to his steps she turned around and widened her eyes.

For a second she saw at his back the ghostly visage of Jiraya. She saw Minato and Kushina. She saw Sarutobi-sensei, her grandfather and her granduncle. She saw Hyuga Neji, Maito Guy and Uchiha Itachi. At the back of Naruto's ghostly followers a sea of shinobi flocked all wearing the symbol of Konoha. For a second she saw them all at Naruto's back, then she blinked and only Naruto stood there.

He turned to her finally, a large grin on his face as he gave one last look at both the Hokage and the city. "I'm going Baachan" He said nothing else as he turned back around to walk away. _Goodbye…I'll miss you._

She stared for a while at him and finally she smiled. "Damn Gaki, be safe." _Goodbye…we'll miss you too._

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Luffy had always been the kind of guy who was excited about a lot of things. He loved the rough and wild seas they'd had so far on the grand line, even the vacation spot where he got all that delicious meat. He even liked Vivi's little duck and its reaction to the jokes his crew made about a possible stew being made from it. He found it just so cool when a guy could transform himself too look like anyone at will. Sanji's reaction to the guy's reveal of Nami's body was just hilarious and he was kind of sad the guy had to go.

Still life was simple on the grand line as it passed by slowly until Luffy saw something amazing. His eyes widened dramatically as he smacked his face and stared opened mouth at the vessel quickly approaching them from the right. The ship was nothing special and yet…

"SUGOI!"

On it was copies of the same blond person. They all wore the same cloak, had wild shoulder length blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Some were perched on the ship's mast others working on the rigging and more still were sitting in the middle of the boat writing something on paper. The ship was approaching Luffy's own fast and Luffy was too transfixed by the awesome sight of over fifty of the same person to respond.

He wasn't the only own though as Chopper and Usopp were right next to him in the same state. Nami had also noticed but was nervously staring at all the copies, the implication of how many there were was not lost to her. Sanji and Zorro were too busy arguing with each other to care. Besides Zorro had his promise to keep he couldn't lose no matter what and Sanji's only thoughts were on protecting Nami-swan's glorious body.

It wasn't long until the boat was right next to them and one of the blondes jumped from the top of the mast to their ship and landed in a crouch, while the floor beneath him splintered from the force.

"Yo!" He said jovially.

"HOW ARE YOUR LEGS NOT BROKEN?!" Usopp, Nami and Chopper yelled in disbelief.

They man blinked as he looked down to his legs and back to the three before simply replying by crossing his fingers weirdly and leaning forward. In response all three alongside Luffy leaned forward as well. "Nin Nin!"

For a second nothing was said before Luffy grinned leaned forward and tried to copy the pose. "Nin Nin!"

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 **AN:**

 **I usually hate putting out author notes in my stories but it has to be done. I've written before, but it's been years. I've had personal problems but I think they are resolved now. I just want to put this here to explain a couple of things.**

 **Firstly** **about Sasuke** **and any possible argument about him having to go too. I can't say much as it is part of the story; all I'll say is please be patient and you will see my explanation later.**

 **Then concerning** **Naruto and Hinata** **….well you'll find out won't you. Also part of the story. Honestly my favorite pairing has always been Hinata and Naruto. And it will probably never change.**

 **Then thirdly this is** **not simply some Naruto in One piece copy** **, it's a big universe in One Piece with a lot of potential fights. Luffy has his fights, and I will not simply just put Naruto in Luffy's place. That detracts from Luffy's character and importance…which is just plain stupid….rant aside xD.**

 **And** **finally** **the Naruto here is pretty much the same Naruto from the original story, but like any author I put a twist in to make it at least more interesting and inspire some drama.**

 **Lastly I hope you all enjoyed this prologue to my story.**


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